Idaho High Court overturns conviction in CDA rape case

A conviction was vacated last week against a Kootenai County man who was sentenced to a suspended 10-year prison term in a rape case.

The Idaho Supreme Court said evidence regarding the victim’s history of reporting false rape claims, which was not admitted in the case, should have been considered by the court before sentencing Steven M. Chambers to a 10-year suspended sentence.

Chambers, 29, was placed on probation in 2017 after pleading guilty in Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court to battery with intent to commit rape.

According to court records Chambers, who has a speech impediment and learning disabilities, met the victim June 3, 2016, and the couple exchanged sexually explicit messages and pictures on their cellphones.

The victim — who goes by N.S. in the court record — later visited Chambers at his residence between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. and the couple engaged in sex.

Afterward the victim called police to report being punched and raped by Chambers.

During an interview with Coeur d’Alene Police detectives, Chambers admitted to having sex with the victim, according to court records, but insisted it was consensual. He later told police he had punched N.S. and forced her to have sex.

Chambers’ attorneys introduced evidence of N.S.’s past sexual behavior including evidence of a false report of another rape that N.S. filed against another Coeur d’Alene man after Chambers’ arrest.

In that case police did not pursue charges against the man after establishing facts similar to those in Chambers’ case, according to the Supreme Court opinion.

“In both cases N.S. deleted all text messages between the accused and herself before calling police,” according to the High Court’s opinion. “Also in both cases the men insisted the sex was consensual.”

Police declined to arrest the second man, and a Coeur d’Alene judge dismissed the evidence of N.S.’s sexual history in Chambers’ case, citing that it could mislead a jury.

Idaho Supreme Court Justice John Stegner said the dismissed evidence was relevant and should have been admitted. He vacated the First District Court’s conviction and remanded the case back to the Coeur d’Alene court. Chief Justice Roger S. Burdick and Justice Gregory W. Moeller concurred with Stegnar’s decision.